Program Manager, Critical Harm Operations

About the Team Critical Harm Operations sits within User Safety & Risk Operations and builds enforcement systems for Frontier Risk and Material Harm that are accurate, fast, defensible, and built to scale. We turn policy intent into operational readiness, review standards, quality systems, escalation paths, automation guardrails, and durable cross-functional operating models. About the Role We are looking for an exceptional Program Manager to help build durable operating systems and run some of OpenAI’s most complex safety operations. The core need is a high-agency operator who can take an ambiguous problem, create the right structure, align cross-functional partners, and drive the work through execution. This role will move across Critical Harm priorities as needs evolve. You may step into operationalizing national security or violent-activities workflows, support wellbeing and Frontier Risk initiatives, or help scale programs such as Trusted Access. Deep domain expertise is helpful but not required; the strongest candidates will learn quickly, exercise excellent judgment, and make complex programs move. This Toronto-based role is currently remote and is expected to transition to an in-office arrangement by end of year. In this role, you will: - Lead strategic operational builds across priority workflows from problem statement to implemented operating model, including scope, owners, milestones, risks, success measures, and execution cadence. - Translate policy, safety, technical, legal, and operational constraints into workflows, requirements, playbooks, escalation paths, and decision-making structures that teams can execute. - Coordinate with User Ops leadership, Product Policy, Integrity, Safety Systems, i2, Legal, Product, Engineering, Support, vendors, and other partners to resolve dependencies and keep critical work moving. - Move in and out of workflows as priorities shift—standing up new programs, stabilizing operations, improving handoffs, and transitioning durable ownership to the right team. - Use operational data and frontline signals to identify bottlenecks, quality gaps, capacity needs, ownership failures, and the highest-leverage interventions. - Drive high-priority escalations and cross-functional decisions to closure, ensuring the right context, accountable owners, clear next steps, and durable follow-up. - Create the mechanisms that make programs run well: roadmaps, decision logs, status updates, risk registers, operating reviews, and crisp executive communication. - Identify where AI tools, automation, lightweight systems, or simpler workflows can improve speed, consistency, and scale while preserving appropriate human judgment. You might thrive in this role if you: - Have 8+ years of experience in program management, strategy and operations, product operations, technical program management, trust and safety, support operations, risk operations, implementation, or a related field. - Experience in cybersecurity, biosecurity, or related risk and safety operations is a plus - Have a track record of taking complex, ambiguous work from problem framing through launch and scaled operation. - Are unusually organized, sharp, and execution-focused; you can manage many moving pieces without losing the few decisions that matter most. - Build trust and drive alignment across teams without direct authority, while keeping ownership, accountability, and escalation paths clear. - Are technically and analytically fluent enough to reason about data flows, dashboards, tooling gaps, automation, and failure modes—even if you are not writing production code. - Communicate clearly with technical, operational, policy, and executive audiences, especially when tradeoffs are sensitive or evidence is inc